Blake Griffin and Andrew Bynum have been voted to the All-Star Game, joining Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul to give the city of Los Angeles four starters.
Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant kept the West from being an entire L.A. story by earning a forward spot for the Feb. 26 game in Orlando, Fla.
The Clippers' Griffin and the Lakers' Bynum are first-time starters, while Bynum's teammate Bryant earned his record-tying 14th consecutive nod. Paul plays with Griffin for the Clippers.
Dwight Howard of the host Magic was the leading vote-getter with 1.6 million. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are going together again from Miami, while MVP Derrick Rose of Chicago and New York's Carmelo Anthony round out the East starters.
Derrick Rose scored 32 points to outduel fellow all-star starter Carmelo Anthony, and visiting Chicago beat New York.
Rose had 15 in the fourth quarter and repeatedly answered when the Knicks rallied. With Chicago leading by 88-83 midway through the final period, the reigning MVP scored on three straight possessions.
Rudy Gay scored 21 points to lead five Memphis players in double figures, and the visiting Grizzlies blew out listless Atlanta.
Memphis pulled away late in the first half, closing on an 18-7 run that gave the Grizzlies a 10-point lead at the break.
A lawyer entered a no-contest plea for Kyle Lowry in a bid for dismissal of a misdemeanor battery case alleging that the Houston Rockets guard threw a basketball at a female referee and threatened her during a game at a Las Vegas gym in September.
A court clerk said the ex-Villanova star did not appear with his lawyer, Patrick McDonald, before a Las Vegas justice of the peace.
A person familiar with the situation says Charlotte Bobcats guard/forward Gerald Henderson will miss two to four weeks with a strained right hamstring.
The person spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the team has not publicly announced the injury.
The Orlando Magic have signed Ish Smith, a free-agent point guard most recently of Golden State, as the team's third point guard.
The 6-foot, 170-pound Smith was added to the roster, a day after Orlando released guard Larry Hughes.
- Associated Press
